Phil Beach Jr. emphasizes God's deep longing for a relationship with us, urging believers to cast their burdens upon Him and trust in His guidance. He reflects on the darkness and chaos of our lives, paralleling the creation story in Genesis with the light brought by Jesus in the Gospel of John. The preacher highlights the tragedy of rejecting God's invitation to receive Him, reminding us that true fulfillment comes from allowing Christ to reign in our hearts. He calls for a present and active reception of God's word and guidance in our lives, stressing the importance of ongoing repentance and submission to Jesus as King.

Lord, to understand that you are longing for something, and Lord, that something is us. Help us, Lord, today as we look into your word to give us a sense of knowing what you're saying to us. Help us, Lord, to understand how deeply you love us and how deeply you long for us and how hopeful you are that you will see a corresponding longing in our hearts for you. Now, Lord, we know only you can do this, and we look to you to place this in our heart. We give you the preeminence at this time. We give your Holy Spirit the place in our lives to speak to us, to enlighten us, to open up the ears of our heart that we might hear you, to open up the eyes of our heart that we might see you. We would pray, Lord, now that the cares that we are carrying in our heart and mind, you would empower us to cast on you the thing that's troubling our spirit, the thing that we're worried about, Lord, that we would be able to roll that burden upon you. The Lord would speak to all of us who are carrying a burden now. Listen, beloved, a heavy burden. You've been concerned. You've been troubled. The Lord says, cast your care upon me, for he cares for you. Cast it upon him. Roll that burden upon him by the power of Jesus. Take it out of your hands. Say, Lord, take it out of my hands. This is too heavy for me. This is too difficult for me. Lord, this thing is just taking all my joy. It's taking all my... It's just weakening me, Lord. I can't bear it anymore. Help me, Jesus. Help me, Jesus. I've tried with all my might and all my power to figure this thing out, and it keeps perplexing me. It's left me speechless, and it's left me brokenhearted, Lord. I don't know what to do. The Lord's saying, cast it on me. Cast it on me. Trust him. Trust the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean unto your own understanding. And all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. He will guide you. He will guide you in his timing. He will guide you. And so, Lord, we pray that you'll help us to cast our many burdens upon you today. You'll teach us that we can trust King Jesus to rule in our heart and in our life. Amen. Way back in the very beginning in Genesis, there's a statement that the Lord makes, and this statement reflects his heart this morning. Not only does this statement reflect his heart, but this statement, listen please, is the governing purpose behind all that God is doing in your life and my life. This is governing all that the Lord is doing. Have you asked, Lord, why are you doing this, or what are you doing? Why are you doing this, or what are you doing? This is it right here. Genesis chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Now, the next statement is the governing purpose behind all that God is doing. In your life, in my life today, this is what he's doing. Now, before we read the next statement, understand the situation. God created heaven and earth. The earth, a more better translation would be, had become. Something happened. We don't know, and we're not going to speculate, but what we do know is this. The earth was full of darkness. It was full of chaos. It was full of emptiness. It was full of confusion. I wonder if I heard it. Yeah, I haven't heard it yet. I'll say it again. The earth was full of darkness. It was full of emptiness. It was full of confusion. Ah, thank you. That's me. What a mess. What a mess. And what is God's response to such a mess? Without form. Notice the adjectives here. Listen carefully. Without form. Uncommonly. No beauty. Void. That's empty. Empty. And darkness. You know a simple definition of darkness, beloved? The absence of light. That's darkness. Now, before we go there, just keep your finger there. Go to the book of John. This is a dreadful condition that is before the Lord. Now, interestingly, when we read the gospel of John, we find that John opens up his wonderful epistle, or book, in a fashion very similar to the book of Genesis, doesn't he? Yes, he does, and there's a reason. There's a reason. Because Genesis is the shadow. John talks about the substance. Genesis talks about that which is natural. John introduces what is spiritual. Genesis introduces natural things that teach us spiritual realities. John introduces to us the substance of those spiritual realities. Now, watch what happens here. In the beginning. Now, they're the exact words that we find in Genesis chapter 1. You know, when you see this, brothers and sisters, oh, it'll bring tears to your eyes. Genesis chapter 1 says, in the beginning. Now, John says, in the beginning was the Word. Now, John is introducing something about God that was there in Genesis, but wasn't yet unveiled. It wasn't clearly seen. But John now is ripping the veil off. He's taking away the veneer. He's showing us clearly what was there at the beginning. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. In the beginning, God created what? The heavens and the earth. All things were created by Him. The Word. The Word who was with God and who was God. He was back, back in the beginning with God. And without Him, there wasn't anything made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shined in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. This is the problem. The darkness comprehended it not. This is where we're at today. We do not understand. We do not understand because of the weakness of our minds and the weakness of our hearts. We don't understand that the light is shining in darkness. Verse number six, there was a man sent from God whose name was John. The same came for a witness or a testimony to testify of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light, but was sent to bear witness of that light. That was the true light which lights every man that comes into the world. Now watch. He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Not. He came unto His own. Now watch. And His own received Him not. Now you stay right there, and you go back to Genesis. Keep your finger there and go back to Genesis. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. Verse two, chapter one, Genesis, and the earth was without form and void and darkness. Darkness. Darkness. Darkness. No beauty. Now here's the statement, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and God said, let there be light. The statement in verse two, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, introduces to us one of the greatest mysteries that God has ever revealed to you and I. This statement, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, is a statement that is made which illustrates what an eagle or any other bird in the heaven would do when it starts hovering around searching for a nest to build in order to raise a family. This is a picture of a searching heart. Where is He looking though? Where is He searching? In darkness. He's looking for a home in a place that has become ruined. In a place that has become empty. In a place that has become hostile to Him. If darkness is the absence of light, and light is the presence of God, and with God comes all of His moral perfections, then darkness being the absence of light would be present all of the immoral imperfections, the opposite of what God is. God is love, but in the midst of this darkness lurks what? Hatred. God is kind, but in the midst of this darkness lurks what? Unkindness. God is peace, but in the midst of this darkness lurks turmoil and chaos and horror and nightmares and toil and labor and struggle and murder. God says there's something in the midst of that darkness that I'm after. There's something in the midst of that darkness that I'm after. And God said, verse 3, let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. God saw the light. It was good. And He divided. He made a distinction between the light and the darkness. And God called the light day. Turn your Bibles to Thessalonians, please. First Thessalonians chapter 5. But of the times and seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. Please endure for a short time this foundation that we're laying here, as this will help us to understand and interpret what is going on in our lives and what is God's ultimate intention in our lives. OK, this is what we need to learn, because when the Holy Spirit draws near, He longs for us to understand what He's saying. He longs for us to understand what His highest interests are for us. Now, we know that the Gentiles, that is, those who don't know the Lord, they consider that the highest interest for them in this world would be what they can get, how they can personally benefit, how they can be enlarged, how they can grow, how they can become something. But brothers and sisters, whenever the Holy Spirit draws near to a company of people, He begins to expel that thought and begins to show us what His intention is for His people. That is not God's intention for His people, you and I. That's not His ultimate goal. Something far better. 1 Thessalonians chapter 5. The times and seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write to you. For you yourselves know that the day of the Lord so comes of the thief in the night, when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as prevail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. For you are all the children of, and God said, let there be light. And God said, that is good. And God made a distinction between light and darkness. For ye are all the children of light. And the children of the. Of the what? Of the day. And God called the light what? Day. And the darkness he called night. Verse 5. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the what? Night. Nor of darkness. See what's happening here? In Genesis, we see God doing something, but it's a shadow. It's a type. It's real, but it's pointing toward a great spiritual meaning. We come into the New Testament and we see that meaning unfold. Therefore, verse 6, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day, of the day, of the light. But let us who are of the day, we should wake up every day and say, Lord, thank you for the light. Thank you for the light. Why did Jesus shine his light in this darkness? Why? It tells us in Genesis, brothers and sisters, because God was looking for a family. In the midst of this darkness, in the midst of this chaos, in the midst of this black, thick darkness, the Spirit of God was hovering. The Spirit of God was searching. The Spirit of God was saying, I want a family. And the response to that longing in God's heart was the coming of his Son, light in darkness, separating darkness from light, showing the world the true light. And those who trust in him, those who are broken by him, become part of the day, part of the light, part of the family, part of those who are in the nest, the nest that God has built to raise a family of sons and daughters. The greatest news that God has ever brought to mankind is this. You're all black. You're all dark. You're all full of sin. You're all full of corruption. You're all full of immorality. You're full of everything that's opposite of me. But I love you. I love you. Here's the tragedy. Go back to John, John, chapter one, verse 10. And he was in the world and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. And he came to his own and his own received him, not the greatest tragedy that can ever happen. Is when the light comes. And we don't receive him. Now, is this a sorrow that God experienced through Bible history about him revealing himself to the nations of the world and they didn't receive him? No. The sorrow. If you read through your Old Testament, the sorrow of God's heart was over who? His people. His people. You see, God said, listen, I'm going to take a man, Abraham, out of the nations of the world, and I'm going to reveal myself to him. And the story of Abraham turns into the story of Israel. God's people. The ones in whom God was hoping to realize his desire at the beginning, he would move in the midst of darkness, reveal himself as light and call people out of darkness to walk with him the light. But time after time, after time, after time, after time, he came to his own. He came to his own. He revealed his word. He revealed his will. He spoke through prophets. He spoke through judges. He spoke through donkeys. He spoke through visions. He spoke through dreams. He spoke through kings. He spoke through all manner of ways. And time and time again, he cried out. Why? Why have you rejected me? Do you want to go back into darkness? Do you want to go back into the life that is void and dark and formless? Did you forget that I called you out of emptiness and thick blackness? Did you forget that when I told Moses to write Genesis chapter 1 verse 2, I was talking about you spiritually, that you have become all that is detestable in my eyes and in my heart. Your rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. Don't you know that if you turn from me and go your own way, if you choose, if you sit as the king of your life, don't you know that the only place you can go is back to thick darkness and blackness and immoral horror? Don't you know? This is the history of God's heart. Broken time after time after time after time. What has he ever done to us to hurt us? What has he ever done to us to harm us? What has he ever done to us to make our life miserable? Nothing. And in addition to that, he comes as a man. He demonstrates to the world the substance of all the types and shadows in the book of Genesis. He shows the world the day, the light, the man. And he says, if I'm going to take you as my own, I've got to punish your sin. I've got to punish your sin. I've got to do something because I can't, I can't let your sin go unpunished. And so he says, there's only one solution. I'll bear it myself. You're black, you're dark, you're formless, you're void, you're empty, you're a rebel, you've made yourself your own God, you've raised up your head and you've shook your fist at me and you're the clay and you looked up at me, the potter, and you've said, I don't like the way you made me. You know, God made man to be dependent on him. Remember at the beginning, God says, I've given you a garden, I've given you a beautiful place, and there's only one thing I require. And that is this, you live your life in obedience to me, children. You live your life in obedience to me, young people. I love you. I've made you distinct from all the creatures of the earth. I've made you distinct in that none of them have the breath of life in them. None of them are compatible with communion with me. They're dumb beasts of the field. I created them. They have a purpose, but they look at me and they stare. I can't speak to them. I can't love on them and I can't receive love back from them. But you, you, you, I breathe something of myself into you and I find compatibility with you. I find that in you, I can love on you and I see that you can love back on me. I see we can have sweet fellowship together. But you rebelled against me. You went your own way. You were enticed by the serpent. And when you saw the glitter of vanity, you saw the illusion and lie of wisdom that can be gotten your way, not my way, your way. And you saw the beauty of what it would be like to make a decision independent of me. You defiled yourself. You corrupted yourself. But I loved you. I had to chase you out of the garden, but I loved you. And I had to take a sword and guard the way back. But I loved you. Even though I came to you and asked what happened and you refused to acknowledge your sin, you blame the woman. And then the woman, when I questioned her, she blamed the serpent. You would not take responsibility for your sin. You became dark. You became formless. You became without beauty. I was not to be found in your life. But I loved you. I loved you. And I killed an animal way back in Genesis. Do you remember? And I clothed you with its skins. And I was teaching you that one day, one day, someone innocent, that animal was innocent, someone innocent would have to atone for your sins. He came to his own and his own received him not. Verse 12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. Brothers and sisters, he stands in our midst today as the light of the world, as the one who has redeemed us out of darkness and out of the night. And he says to us what he has been saying from the very beginning, not to the nations of the world. But to his own people, receive me, receive me, receive me into your hearts, receive me into your homes, receive my words into your mind, receive my correction, receive my reproof, receive my spirit, receive my verdict. When I say you can't reign as king in your life anymore, receive my word. When I say you can't govern your own destiny, receive when I say. Come before me and bow and seek my counsel and wait until you hear from me before you move, wait till you hear from me before you plan, wait till you hear from me before you make decisions, receive my counsel, receive my word. He's saying, don't forget that if you choose not to receive my word, you're going back into darkness. There's no other place to go. God says, I want to have a family. I want to have a family. And I want my son to reign as king in that family. And I want him to reign as king in the heart and the mind. But we must receive him, not just, oh, yes, bless God. I remembered 25 years ago when I received the Lord. That's all well and good. But brothers and sisters, are you receiving him now? Are you hearing his word? Will you hear his word this afternoon? Will you hear his word tonight? Will you hear it tomorrow morning? You say, I thank God I repented of my sins last last year. Did you repent this morning? It's a now thing. And when it ceases to be a now thing. These are these are harsh words, I know, but they're true. God says you have rejected me when it's a yesterday thing. You have rejected me and your religion means nothing to me. We have to close now because of time constraints. But let's bow our hearts for a few moments. Let's bow our hearts for a few moments. Lord, thank you for such an incredible plan, for loving us, for dying for our sins, being punished for what we deserve, for offering us life. And Lord, now we ask you to forgive us, because when you have come to us as king, we've rejected you just like Saul so many times. We've rejected you because we did not want to give the throne to you. We wanted you on our side. We wanted you to forgive our sins. We wanted you to fight our battles. We wanted you to bless us because we knew that if you're with us, everything we do, bless, we're blessed. But Lord, when it came to hearing your word. You are rejected. You have failed. Give up the reins of your heart. Give up the reins. Give them to me. We have done as Saul and we've fought. We've rejected and we've become so miserable. And today, Lord, I pray your work repentance in our heart and grace to help us see that you are the king and that you alone can reign in our lives and over every area of our life that you have made us stewards. Husbands, we fail when we reign. We fail. We don't know how. Wives, you fail when you reign. Children, you fail when you reign. But today, Jesus is saying, I'll reign. Just invite me to. We commit this into your hands, Father. In Jesus name. Amen.